Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2006) to amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the procurement practices of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2005, the VA Procurement Efficiency and Transparency Act.

H.R. 2006 is commonsense contracting, transparency, and efficiency legislation sponsored by my friend, Representative Mike Coffman, an esteemed member of the Veterans' Affairs Committee.

This bill will make clear how much money the VA is saving by competing contracts and direct the VA to organize its contracting documents. Procurement difficulties seem to happen year after year, and I thank Representative Coffman and other Members with reform bills under consideration today for their work on this issue.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to support H.R. 2006, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Coffman), a senior member of the Veterans' Affairs Committee, a veteran of both the Marine Corps and the U.S. Army, and a great friend.

Mr. Speaker, I encourage all Members to support this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2749) to amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the oversight of contracts awarded by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to small business concerns owned and controlled by veterans, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2749, as amended, the Protecting Business Opportunities for Veterans Act of 2017.

H.R. 2749, as amended, is contracting reform legislation sponsored by my friends, General Bergman and Representative Kuster, the chairman and ranking member of our Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee.

This bill will help stop companies that exploit the existing contracting laws and regulations to take work away from legitimate service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses and veteran-owned small businesses.

It is crucial that Federal procurement be fair and that veteran entrepreneurs actually receive the business opportunities that the law creates for them. This bill is a smart fix for a difficult problem, and I appreciate my colleagues' work on it.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to support H.R. 2749, as amended, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Bergman), a new member of our committee and chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to support H.R. 2749, as amended, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2781) to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to certify the sufficient participation of small business concerns owned and controlled and owned by veterans and small business concerns owned by veterans with service-connected disabilities in contracts under the Federal Strategic Sourcing Initiative, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2781, as amended, the Ensuring Veteran Enterprise Participation in Strategic Sourcing Act.

H.R. 2781 is another piece of thoughtful contracting legislation sponsored by a hardworking member of the Veterans' Affairs Committee, Dr. Neal Dunn. This bill will make sure that all small businesses owned by veterans and service-disabled veterans are never excluded from a particular group of contracts run by the General Services Administration, or GSA.

Despite Congress' efforts to give our veterans maximum opportunity in VA contracting, the system does not always work as it should. This bill fixes a loophole that has cropped up recently and makes sure veteran businesses are not inadvertently ignored when VA uses these GSA contracts.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 2781, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Dunn), a veteran and the author of the bill.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Bost), the subcommittee chair on the committee and a marine veteran.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Bergman), the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee chair and a marine who served with distinction.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

In closing, I would certainly urge everyone to support this actionable piece of legislation.

During the last 6\1/2\ months, the Veterans' Affairs Committee has been a very active committee. When we realized that our Choice Program was running short of funds, the committee, in a bipartisan way, voted to extend that.

We have also realized that there are 470,000 veterans whose claims are in appeals and have not been adjudicated. We realize that program is not functioning as it should. The House acted quickly, was bipartisan. That legislation has now been passed out of the Senate VA Committee and is awaiting action by the floor. We hope to have it passed and signed into law soon.

We knew that the Secretary of the VA said he had problems, that he couldn't--most VA employees are terrific. Some of my best friends work at the VA. But there are some not good employees out of the 370,000 there, and the Secretary said, to do his job, to reform the VA, he needed a bill where he could terminate poor-performing employees, and this House and Senate gave him that. The President has signed that into law.

The Secretary has also moved in speeding up the electronic health record transformation into a modern off-the-shelf system. We debated on this floor, today, the Post-9/11 GI Bill update, which is a tremendous benefit for veterans, and decades from now we will look back on this debate we had on the floor, I think, with some admiration as I do. It has been a true privilege and pleasure to be on this committee and to work with my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to take care of these important issues this committee has produced. It will make this promise to our veterans of this country; it will continue to produce results for them.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, today I am honored to recognize Aerojet Ordnance Tennessee (AOT) and their 81 employees in Jonesborough, Tennessee, on the delivery of their seven millionth M67 Hand Grenade body assembly in May 2017.

Awarded its first M67 Hand Grenade body assembly contract from the Joint Munitions Command at Rock Island Arsenal in 2001, when it became the sole supplier of the M67 grenade body for the U.S. and Canadian governments, AOT has been producing the M67 at a high rate. Over the past 16 years, AOT

has been producing almost 500,000 grenade body assemblies annually on average to support our warfighters.

On the occasion of this milestone, I am proud to recognize the dedicated, hardworking employees of AOT and their achievements so far. These Tennesseans are working hard to ensure our men and women in uniform have the resources they need to carry out their missions effectively, and they deserve our sincere appreciation.

Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of H.R. 1215, the Protecting Access to Care Act of 2017, a much needed piece of legislation aimed at reforming medical malpractice law in order to help drive down the cost of providing healthcare and, thereby, making it more affordable for all Americans.

I had the privilege of practicing medicine in the great State of Tennessee for 31 years before coming to Congress. The one thing that took away some of the joy from that practice was the threat of frivolous lawsuits.

Because of trial attorneys, over the years, the premiums for malpractice insurance have ballooned to levels that make it difficult for providers to practice and are driving more people out of practice, away from small practices, and into large hospital systems just so they can survive as a practitioner. Worse still, the jury awards aren't going to the victims of actual malpractice.

In Tennessee, prior to implementing some malpractice reforms, over half the premium dollars were paid out to attorneys, and less than 40 cents of every dollar paid out have gone to people who have actually been injured. So we are not compensating the injured party.

Thankfully, States like my home State of Tennessee are taking action and have enacted much-needed reforms in the last decade, and the costs associated with providing care have plummeted since then. In 2008, the Tennessee Medical Malpractice Act was signed into law and created requirements that the plaintiff in a healthcare liability action provide the defendant with a pre-suit notice of the claim as well as a qualified expert to review the case and certify it has merit.

Adding onto these reforms, in 2011, the Tennessee Civil Justice Act was signed into law, and it included a $750,000 cap for noneconomic damages and a cap on punitive damages at the greater of twice the compensatory damages or $500,000.

With these changes, between 2008 and 2014, the number of medical malpractice lawsuits in Tennessee decreased by 36 percent, from 584 to just 374. And, Mr. Chairman, between 2009 and 2014, the annual medical malpractice premium for an OB/GYN doctor like myself decreased from $52,000-plus to $33,000-plus, nearly a $20,000 decrease in premiums per year.

Those of us who were here in 2009 when the Affordable Care Act was debated remember that President Obama acknowledged that the cost of defensive medicine was a bipartisan concern and something that he wanted to address. Despite the fact that our legislation is modeled on a California law that has stood the test for 40 years through both Republican and Democratic Governors, Democrats made no serious attempt to address medical malpractice as their healthcare bill was pushed through, which is yet another flaw of the ACA.

Today's bill is common sense. With these reforms, we will ensure patients, not trial attorneys, are compensated for legitimate malpractice claims--and there are legitimate claims out there. But we will also prevent frivolous litigation from moving forward.

For those concerned about the 10th Amendment, this bill respects States' rights and only subjects claims with a Federal nexus to this law, while giving a great deal of latitude to States to act in their own accord.

Mr. Chairman, I loved what I did while I was in practice. I had the chance to deliver about 5,000 babies, and it never felt like a job. It is just what I did and enjoyed doing. But at a time when healthcare costs are spiraling out of control, an easy fix like H.R. 1215 just makes sense and is just another piece of the puzzle to help the costs of healthcare go down.

I strongly support the much-needed reforms in this legislation, and I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of final passage.

One final thing, Mr. Chairman. I have a list here of our premiums in the State of Tennessee, and under every specialty listed here--and there are numerous--there were dramatic decreases in each of these.

Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Chairman, medical malpractice lawsuits in this country have gotten out of hand, which is hurting both providers and patients. Something must be done.

I have spent 31 years practicing medicine in Tennessee before coming to Congress. In that time, I saw my medical malpractice insurance premiums increase from $4,000 a year to over $50,000 a year, by the time I left practice.

Why were the premiums so expensive? My practice group took everyone: private insurance, Medicare, Medicaid, TRICARE, and the uninsured. Some practices limit their patient populations, but when you are in rural Appalachia, you take all comers.

The reality is, when you are taking care of patients with elevated risk, you get more frequent negative outcomes, increasing your risk for lawsuits, and this creates an issue for patient access to care.

Finally, right when I was leaving practice in 2008, Governor Haslam signed into law some of the best reforms we have in Tennessee, in the Tennessee Medical Malpractice Act, which created a 60-day notice statute and a certificate of good faith certifying a case has merit before it can be filed.

In 2011, Governor Haslam then signed the Tennessee Civil Justice Act into law, which contained a restriction on who could testify as an expert witness in medical malpractice litigation.

Too often, physicians practicing medicine are pitted in litigation against a professional witness who has gone to medical school but specialized in a different field and wasn't even licensed to practice in their State or a contiguous State. Mr. Chairman, that is absolutely wrong.

The fact is, these changes work. In Tennessee, we saw medical malpractice premiums reduced from 2009 to 2014 by between 25 and 40 percent, depending on the specialty. OBs saw average premiums reduced from over $52,000 to just over $33,000; neurosurgeons saw average premiums reduced from $49,000 to $35,000; cardiovascular surgeons saw their premiums go down from $44,000 to $31,000. There were other changes that were put into place that helped, including caps, but the fact was, this change had a major impact.

My amendment follows Tennessee's law and strengthens the changes contained in the underlying text of the bill, H.R. 1215, by adding further restrictions to those individuals who would qualify as an expert witness for medical malpractice litigation. My amendment limits who can be called as an expert witness, not only by the individual's professional accreditation, but also by his or her geographic location.

The fact is, as Tennessee's law proved, we needed medical professionals from the area where the incident in question occurred to testify as an expert, not a foreign jurisdiction hundreds of thousands of miles away. If that proves to be impossible, the court can waive this requirement if a witness that fits these criteria is otherwise unavailable.

Mr. Chairman, no one knows the people or healthcare providers in an area better than the people and healthcare providers in that area. Whether testifying for the plaintiff or defendant, it is important that those individuals called as experts really know the people in the area and aren't simply flown in from a faraway place just to get a paycheck.

We all want improved quality and lower costs of care. Reforming the litigation process is a step in the right direction.

Mr. Chairman, I encourage Members to support my amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, where the subsidies were going in our State were to the lawyers, since they got over 60 percent of any medical malpractice settlement. The poor patients got less than forty cents on the dollar.

Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. King).

Mr. Chairman, I wish the damages did go to patients in Tennessee. They don't. The majority goes to lawyers.

Mr. Chairman, I yield the balance of my time to the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Marshall), my good friend and a fellow OB/GYN.

Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2353, the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act, which reauthorizes the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act.

Mr. Speaker, it's estimated that the U.S. spends $1.6 trillion dollars on human capital development each year. That includes spending on K-12 education, post-secondary education, and employer-based training. In spite of all that spending, fewer than half of Americans ages 25 to 64 have completed a credential beyond high school. All over my district I hear from employers about the need for workers with the right skills. Career and technical education is one way to do this.

I am pleased this legislation encourages states to utilize work-based learning, but I would also note that I think we can further strengthen it by encouraging apprenticeships, both registered and unregistered. As our nation continues to transition itself from analog to digital, so must our workforce. Apprenticeships are needed not only in traditional trades, but also in emerging fields like advanced manufacturing and the technology sector. President Trump demonstrated his commitment to this workforce development model in a speech last week, and I look forward to working on this model with the Chairwoman.

With these important reforms, we can help ensure the labor force of tomorrow has the skills it needs.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud once again to rise and join in commemorating June 20, 2017, as American Eagle Day and to celebrate the recovery and restoration of the bald eagle, the national symbol of the United States.

On June 20, 1782, the eagle was designated as the national symbol of the U.S. by the Founding Fathers at the Second Continental Congress. The bald eagle is the central image of the Great Seal of the United States and is displayed in the official seal of many branches and departments of the Federal Government.

The bald eagle is an inspiring symbol of freedom and the democracy of the United States. Since the founding of the Nation, the image, meaning, and symbolism of the eagle have played a significant role in art, music, history, commerce, literature, architecture, and culture of the United States.

The bald eagle's habitat exists only in North America. I hope my colleagues will join me in celebrating June 20, 2017, as American Eagle Day, which marks the recovery and restoration of the bald eagle.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2372, the Veterans Equal Treatment Ensures Relief and Access Now, or VETERAN, Act, which I am proud to sponsor along with Congressman Sam Johnson from Texas and a number of our colleagues.

The VETERAN Act would codify an existing Internal Revenue Service regulation, allowing a veteran who is eligible for but not enrolled in the Department of Veterans Affairs healthcare system to use a tax credit to purchase health insurance. Language that would have codified that regulation in law was removed from a draft version of the American Health Care Act in 2017 earlier this year to comply with Senate rules.

While the removal of that language from the version of the bill that ultimately passed the House in no way changed existing regulation or a veteran's eligibility to receive a tax credit pursuant to it, it did form a basis for politically charged assertions that the American Health Care Act would harm veterans.

First, congressional intent is clear. Second, I am confident that the IRS would interpret the relevant language of the American Health Care Act in the same manner as it did similar language in the Affordable Care Act under the President Obama administration.

Nevertheless, I am glad that the passage of the VETERAN Act today will, once and for all, put an end to posturing over this issue and codify Congress' expectation that veterans who are eligible for but not enrolled in the VA healthcare system may continue to receive applicable tax credits to purchase health insurance.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support the passage of the VETERAN Act today.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on S. 1094.

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 378, I call up the bill (S. 1094) to amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the accountability of employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes, and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, this is a historic day. You and many Members of this body

are well aware that bringing real accountability to the Department of Veterans Affairs has been a goal of mine and many of my colleagues for many years. That is why I am proud to rise today to support S. 1094, which passed the United States Senate last week via voice vote.

This bill is heavily modeled off of my bill, H.R. 1259, which passed out of the House with bipartisan support earlier this Congress, and I am proud to have worked with Senators Isakson, Tester, and Rubio to craft this vital piece of legislation.

The Department of Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act of 2017 would provide the Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs with yet another tool to instill accountability at VA by giving him the authority to expeditiously remove, demote, or suspend any VA employee for poor performance or misconduct while still preserving an employee's rights to due process.

This bill would create an expedited procedure for all VA employees to respond and appeal to proposed removals, demotions, and suspensions for performance or misconduct, or in the case of title 38 employees, which are our healthcare providers, for a question involving direct patient care or clinical competence.

The prenotification and response process would have to be completed within 15 business days, and the employee would be entitled to an expedited appeal to the Merit Systems Protection Board where the first step at the administrative judge level would be limited to 180 days.

Additionally, either party would be able to appeal the administrative judge's decision to the full MSPB and would be provided the opportunity for limited judicial review.

This bill would also provide improved protections for whistleblowers by creating a new office and an Assistant Secretary position specifically for accountability and whistleblowers. It would allow the Secretary to reduce an employee's Federal pension if they are convicted of a felony that influenced their job at VA. It would provide the Secretary with the authority to recoup a bonus provided to an employee who engaged in misconduct or malfeasance prior to receiving the bonus, and would allow the Secretary to recoup any relocation expenses that were authorized for a VA employee only through the employee's ill- gotten means, such as fraud, waste, or malfeasance.

Lastly, it would also provide the Secretary with the direct hiring authority he has been asking for so that he can hire medical center directors and VISN directors in a more expedited manner and fill the leadership vacancies across VA.

Mr. Speaker, as I have always said, I agree with all of my colleagues that the vast majority of VA employees--many of whom I know personally and call friends--are hardworking public servants who are dedicated to providing quality healthcare and benefits for veterans.

But for far too long, the failures of bad actors have tarnished the good name of all VA employees. Unfortunately, despite the tireless efforts of our courageous whistleblowers, the extensive reporting on a lack of accountability by the media and the outrage of the American public, we still see far too many instances of VA employees not living up to the standards America expects. Most importantly, they are not living up to the standards that the men and women who have served this great Nation deserve.

This isn't a political issue. This is a veterans' issue. I can't imagine how any Member of this body can defend not standing for veterans to vote for this bipartisan legislation. The lack of accountability isn't specific to any one area of the Department. It is systemic. In the last few years, the committee discovered an instance of a VA nurse scrubbing in drunk for a veteran's surgery--I found that unbelievable--and a care support specialist in the agency's drug and addiction program taking a recovering addict to a crack house to buy him drugs and a prostitute, a VA medical center clerk participating in an armed robbery, and a practitioner watching pornography at work while they were supposedly treating a patient.

What is more, it has been proven that some senior managers have retaliated against whistleblowers, costing VA and, in turn, taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars in restitution.

All of these acts in and of themselves are egregious, but they are just the tip of the iceberg. They have one thing in common: none of these employees were held accountable in a reasonable timeframe, if at all.

There are many factors that contribute to this failure, but an antiquated civil service system and a complicated grievance process have left VA unwilling--and sometimes just unable--to jump through the many hoops to do what is right. This is not an issue unique to VA. Too often it is nearly impossible to remove a poorly performing government employee.

Officials on both sides of the aisle have expressed their concern about the current process to remove or discipline subpar employees. Just last year, Mr. Speaker, VA's then-Deputy Secretary Sloan Gibson sat before our committee and admitted that it was too difficult to fire a substandard VA employee.

Further, the Government Accountability Office studied the government's ability to hold low-performing employees accountable and found that it took 6 months to a year on average, and sometimes significantly longer, to fire a poorly performing government employee-- 6 months to a year.

I have heard concerns that the bill will hurt the Department's ability to recruit and retain good employees. I don't buy this argument as every employee I speak to tells me the exact opposite.

Good employees want to work in an environment where they know everyone can be held accountable for their actions. I believe the current status quo hurts the morale of the employees who are doing the right thing each and every day.

This is the same for employees of the Department who are veterans. I know that some have said that this would hurt veterans who are employed at the VA since they make up a large percentage of our VA employees. But as a veteran myself and as my fellow veterans here today would agree, we don't serve, whether in uniform or civilian clothes, because we prioritize our individual protection. The mission always comes first, and at VA, the mission is our veterans.

Veterans want to work alongside colleagues they know are working hard for the men and women who they served alongside.

Mr. Speaker, before I close, I want to acknowledge some individuals who have made this bill become a reality.

First and foremost, I want to thank the 18 veterans groups representing millions of veterans and their families who are supporting this bill and real accountability at the VA. Many of them are in the gallery today, and I can't thank them enough for all they have done and all they continue to do for our Nation's heroes.

Many of these groups took a courageous stand in support of VA accountability, even when it wasn't a politically popular idea. And I especially want to thank Concerned Veterans for America, The American Legion, and Paralyzed Veterans of America for being some of our earliest and staunchest supporters.

I also want to thank someone who, this Congress, has been with us from day one, and that is the Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Dr. David Shulkin. We have worked with Secretary Shulkin and his team to draft the bill that is before us today, and I am thankful for his and President Trump's support.

President Trump and Secretary Shulkin have endorsed this legislation, not because they want to punish or make it harder to recruit employees, but because they see this change is needed if the Secretary is going to meet the President's goal of truly reforming the VA.

I also want to thank the bipartisan group of Senators who we worked with in crafting this bill, including Senator Isakson; Senator Tester; and the primary sponsor, Senator Rubio. Senator Rubio and his staff have been with me every step of the way, and I am thankful for his and his staff's efforts over the years.

I also want to thank a good friend of mine, Ranking Member Walz, and his staff for their support and leadership.

They have been fantastic. I also want to thank Speaker Ryan and Majority Leader McCarthy and their staffs for helping us bring this bill to the floor.

Lastly, I would like to single out former Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman Jeff Miller, a good friend, great leader of this committee, and my chairman for 6 years. His leadership got the ball rolling on this issue, which led to House-passed legislation twice last Congress and kept the spotlight on accountability issues at VA through his dogged oversight.

Finally, I would like to thank my staff, and especially the professional and communications staff of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, for their years of hard work on this issue.

Mr. Speaker, today, we have a bipartisan, bicameral bill that makes meaningful change to VA's civil service system, while maintaining due process rights.

Today, we have the opportunity to make real and lasting changes to a broken system.

Today, we can stand together with veterans against the status quo that has failed them for far too long. They deserve better.

I hope all of you will join me, and the 18 veterans organizations that support this legislation, to do what is right and send this bill to the President's desk.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr. McCarthy), the majority leader.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from California (Mr. Takano) for his support.

I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis), my good friend and vice chair of the Veterans' Affairs Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Coffman), an Army and Marine veteran deployed to Iraq.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Maine (Mr. Poliquin), my good friend and a member of the Veterans' Affairs Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Dunn), a veteran and a member of the committee, to speak on this issue.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Arrington), chairman of the Economic Opportunity Subcommittee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Rutherford), a member of our committee and, for many years, who was in the process of protecting us in law enforcement.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Bergman), the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee chair and a lieutenant general in the Marine Corps.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman

from Puerto Rico (Miss Gonzalez-Colon), a new member of our committee, who is doing a great job.

Mr. Speaker, how much time do I have remaining?

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Messer), my good friend who I have served with for 6 years on the Education and the Workforce Comittee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Mast), a combat-wounded veteran, Bronze Star winner, Purple Heart winner, Defense Meritorious Service and Army Commendation Medal winner.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Mast for those kind words and words spoken for every American veteran.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fitzpatrick).

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Today is a proud day, I think, for this Nation. The United States of America does more for its veterans than all other nations in the world combined; and I don't think that, on some days, that is even enough for these heroes that have served us and many of whom have spoken this afternoon.

I want to express my appreciation to the minority and the majority staff, and to Sergeant Major Walz for walking hand in hand. As he said, this was not an easy process. There were a lot of difficult issues that we both dealt with.

I also want to thank our friends on the Senate side who also went through the same process and brought a bill to the floor that we can all, I think, enthusiastically support.

The Secretary said when he was first chosen--and I might add, 100-0, Secretary Shulkin was a bipartisan agreement in the Senate. I think he is a leader to transform the VA. He asked for accountability. He said: I cannot do my job as Secretary if I don't have this piece of legislation.

So he was very supportive, along with President Trump, so we gave him that.

We also protected due process rights for the employees who work for the VA--a very important issue.

Whistleblower protections. We could not do our job, Mr. Speaker, if we did not have these whistleblowers. There are 350,000 employees, 154 medical centers, and over 800 outpatient clinics. There is no way that we could monitor that without their help. So their protections are there.

Mr. Speaker, I want to encourage both sides of the aisle to support S. 1094, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Walker for yielding.

I would like to associate my remarks with Mr. Hudson, Dr. Wenstrup, Mr. Franks, and my good friend Diane Black.

I am a concealed carry permit holder--full disclosure--and what Mr. Franks said: I am an OB/GYN doctor by training. I have delivered 5,000 babies in my lifetime, and every single one of them I view as valuable. I have watched these young people that I have delivered grow up and become very productive citizens not only in my community, but around the country.

Mr. Speaker, 44 years ago, I was a young soldier in southeast Asia. When we came home from the military, we were advised not to wear our uniforms when we traveled because of basically what was going on in the country: the opposition to the Vietnam war. That left a very deep, indelible mark on me, and I thought that is no way we should be treating our men and women who protected us and gave us the freedoms that we have and live by to this day.

When I got the privilege of being elected--when I retired from my medical practice in northeast Tennessee and ran for Congress and was fortunate enough to win--I was asked to be on the Veterans' Affairs Committee, which I have served on for the past 8 years.

We know that 3 years ago there was a scandal in Phoenix, Arizona. Then we realized it was not just Phoenix, Arizona. It was all across the country where veterans were not being served, and, actually, veterans were dying while they were waiting for care at a VA. That is as wrong as it gets.

So, what we elected to do in our committee, when we discovered this, was to try to get some legislation up that actually did something about this. And one of the things that touched me--I watched late into the evening, like many of you all probably around the country and in this gallery watched--was the election results. It was around 3 or 3:30 in the morning when then President-elect Trump gave his election speech.

Very shortly into it, not a minute or two into that speech, he mentioned our veterans. And it really, really encouraged me because I think he is an administration that is very sincere in improving care.

And, Mr. Speaker, it is not money. When I came here in 2009, you, the taxpayers, were spending about $97 billion on VA care, on benefits, and on cemeteries. Today, that number is going to be $186 billion. We have gone from 260,000 employees in the VA to over 360,000 employees. There is enough money and personnel to take care of the problems.

When the President was sworn in and he selected his Secretary of the VA, Dr. David Shulkin--I believe is now the man for the job--he was approved 100-0 by the Senate. Dr. Shulkin said: The first thing I need is accountability legislation that allows me to terminate bad employees.

At the VA, the vast majority--and many of them are personal friends of mine that I have worked with in healthcare--are good people taking the very best care they can of veterans. But there are some bad apples there, and they cannot be terminated. It almost could not happen, Mr. Speaker.

So what this legislation does is it protects the whistleblowers who call these people out. It provides due process rights for employees so that they don't have those trampled on, but it allows the Secretary to terminate these bad apples and, hopefully, improve the morale of the entire VA. This is only phase one.

We also have passed out of this body and over to the Senate--I want to thank our Senate colleagues, Senator Isakson; Senator Rubio, who is a lead sponsor in the Senate; and Senator Tester, the minority leader. I also want to thank the minority leader on our side of the aisle, Sergeant Major Walz, who worked hand in hand. This was a bipartisan bill, which is how legislation should be passed. We passed it in the House and it went to the Senate. They reformed the bill. It came back, and we now await the President's signature.

We are also doing repeals reform. We passed that out of here. We have, now, 470,000 backlog claims of veterans waiting for their appeals. Hopefully, we are going to address this problem.

The Secretary, we have just extended the Choice Program for veterans who want to choose care outside of the VA, and also a new electronic health system. So we have a lot of work to do.

It is a true privilege to do what I get to do, which is to help the 21 million men and women who have served this country, who allow us to be free.

I thank the gentleman for the privilege to be down here tonight to share this with the American people.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 1808, the Improving Support for Missing and Exploited Children Act, which improves the Missing Children's Assistance Act.

Mr. Speaker, this Thursday is National Missing Children's Day. I can't imagine the pain and suffering that occurs when a child goes missing. I am a proud cosponsor of this legislation, and I am proud of the Committee on Education and the Workforce for its work on this important issue.

This legislation strengthens existing efforts to help recover missing children and prevents more children from being victims of abuse and exploitation.

This bill also includes a provision to incorporate developing technologies related to the reporting of child exploitation. This provision was a result of an idea shared by a constituent of mine, Michael Reed. His wife was a victim of abuse as a child, and he has devoted his life to making sure other children have a voice and the ability to report the abuse that they are experiencing. I am committed to ensuring that Congress is working to protect these children.

Mr. Speaker, I thank both sides of the aisle on the Education and the Workforce Committee, and I encourage all of my colleagues to support this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2288) to amend title 38, United States Code, to reform the rights and processes relating to appeals of decisions regarding claims for benefits under the laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days within

which to revise and extend their remarks and to insert extraneous material in the Record on H.R. 2288, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to ask my colleagues to support H.R. 2288, as amended.

First, I want to thank the Disabilities Assistance and Memorial Affairs Subcommittee Chairman Bost and Ranking Member Esty for their hard work in bringing H.R. 2288 to the floor. I also want to thank every member of the Veterans' Affairs Committee, both Republican and Democrat, who all are original cosponsors of this bill.

The committee has been working on overhauling the VA's appeals process, which was established back in 1933. The problem is that the current system is slow, cumbersome, frustrating, and full of bureaucratic red tape. As a result, there are currently 470,000 veterans, many of whom may have been injured in the line of duty, who are waiting for a decision on their appeal. Many of these folks have been waiting for more than 5 years, and veterans are filing more appeals every day.

Last year, VA Deputy Secretary Sloan Gibson testified that if Congress doesn't pass reform soon, by 2027, veterans may have to wait as long as 10 years to get a decision on their appeal. Think about that. In 2027, men and women who served our Nation may have to wait a decade to get a decision on their appeal.

These veterans have bills to pay and families to support. Even worse, they may need medical treatments that they can't get from the VA because their appeal hasn't been decided.

Mr. Speaker, one of the dearest friends I have had in my life died a little over 2 years ago, waiting on a decision on an appeal.

H.R. 2288 would help streamline the VA's appeals process, while giving veterans more options and protecting their due process rights. This legislation includes a compromise agreement that was reached between VA and the veterans service organizations which passed the House last Congress as part of H.R. 5620.

We have added a few improvements since last year. For example, we have expanded the bill to allow some veterans who are currently having pending appeals to opt in to the new system. I really believe that the changes in this bill will make a difference and help expedite the process so that veterans can get a decision on their appeal and then get on with their lives.

I am going to pull out all the stops to get this bill on the President's desk as soon as possible. We are talking with our colleagues in the Senate, including Chairman Isakson, Ranking Member Tester, and Senator Blumenthal, to resolve a few minor differences between the House version and the Senate version.

The sooner we get this bill passed, the sooner our Nation's veterans will be able to get their decisions on appeal in a timely manner. Veterans deserve no less.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to support H.R. 2288, as amended, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Bost), chairman of the DAMA Subcommittee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Dunn), an active member on the committee and a veteran.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Puerto Rico (Miss Gonzalez-Colon), a new member of our committee and the only representative from Puerto Rico.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Costello), a former member of our committee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

I, too, want to echo what Mr. Walz has said. It has been a pleasure to work on this and what has been done in the previous Congress. I think this is one of the most important bills that we voted on in the Veterans' Affairs Committee since I have been in Congress. It is the thing we hear about back home, Mr. Speaker, which is disability claims. I think this actually will speed up that process and adjudicate those claims.

I, too, thank all the staff and both subcommittee chairs and ranking members for their hard work.

Mr. Speaker, once again, I urge all Members to support H.R. 2288, as amended, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 467) to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to ensure that each medical facility of the Department of Veterans Affairs complies with requirements relating to scheduling veterans for health care appointments, to improve the uniform application of directives of the Department, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 467, a bill that would codify the VA's own directives for outpatient scheduling into law.

In June of 2010, the Veterans Health Administration issued VHA Directive 2010-27, VHA Outpatient Scheduling Processes and Procedures. This directive requires VHA facility directors to annually certify that their facility is in full compliance with the scheduling procedures outlined within the directive.

It is important to note that this directive was issued 4 years before the scheduling scandal at the Phoenix VA broke, with no less than 40 veterans dying while being kept on secret lists, waiting for an appointment. I believe this directive was a responsible way for the VA to ensure that veterans were receiving the care that they came to the VA for and were not slipping through the cracks.

Unfortunately, in May of 2013, then-Deputy Under Secretary for Health at the VA waived this requirement for the VA medical facility directors to adhere to the directive. As we now know, this waiver helped cover a practice of malfeasance within scheduling departments at VA medical facilities across the Nation.

As I mentioned before, in 2014, the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, with my friend, former Chairman Jeff Miller at the helm, discovered secret waiting lists at the Phoenix VA, as well as many other medical centers across the country. Had this directive still been in place, I honestly believe the scandal could have been prevented.

Mr. Speaker, it is incumbent upon us to ensure that these scheduling processes do not and cannot be dismissed by VA bureaucrats ever again.

I thank my good friend and former committee member, Representative Jackie Walorski from Indiana, for sponsoring this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 467, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis), the vice chair and one of the most active members of the committee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from Indiana (Mrs. Walorski), the sponsor of the bill and a former member of the committee.

Mr. Speaker, once again, I encourage all Members to support this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1005) to amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the provision of adult day health care services for veterans.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, today I rise in support of H.R. 1005, a bill to improve the provision of adult day healthcare services for veterans.

Last year, the Department of Veterans Affairs testified that 9.8 million veterans, or 46 percent of the veteran population, will be 65 years of age or older in 2017. Given that, the need to ensure that veterans have ready access to a variety of geriatric and long-term care services and supports is an increasingly important component of the VA's mission.

Current law requires the VA to cover the cost of nursing home care in a State Veterans Home for any veteran in need of such care due to a service-connected disability or with a service-connected disability rating of 70 percent or more. That authority is incredibly important and has helped thousands of our veterans get the nursing home care they need.

However, there is an increasing demand for VA to offer geriatric and long-term care programs in noninstitutional settings that would allow aging veterans to receive needed services and supports while remaining in their homes surrounded by their loved ones.

To that end, H.R. 1005 would require VA to enter into an agreement or a contract with State Veterans Homes to pay for adult day healthcare for a veteran who is eligible for but not receiving nursing home care.

Adult day healthcare programs are a popular alternative to nursing home care that provide veterans in need of case management, assistance with activities of daily living, or other supportive services with companionship, peer support, recreation, and certain healthcare services. They also provide needed respite for caregivers.

By requiring VA to cover the cost of adult day healthcare programs at State Veterans Homes for veterans who would otherwise qualify for VA- paid nursing home care, H.R. 1005 would expand access to this type of care, which has been shown to maximize a veteran's independence and quality of life and to extend an aging veteran's ability to remain at home, which I think we would all want to do.

This bill has the support of the National Association of State Veterans Homes, The American Legion, the Disabled American Veterans, the Paralyzed Veterans of America, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States.

I am grateful to my friend and former committee member, Lee Zeldin from New York, for sponsoring this legislation and for shepherding it to the House floor. I look forward to working with him and our colleagues in the Senate to secure a quick passage over there as well.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 1005, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Zeldin) who is a former member of our committee and sponsor of this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Costello) who is a former member of our committee.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 1005.

Once again, I urge all Members to support this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1162) to direct the Secretary

of Veterans Affairs to carry out a pilot program to provide access to magnetic EEG/EKG-guided resonance therapy to veterans.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 1162, a bill to expand the use of EEG/EKG-guided magnetic resonance therapy to treat veterans with PTSD, traumatic brain injury, military sexual trauma, chronic pain, and opiate addiction at VA medical centers.

A 2016 VA report found that mental health conditions and substance abuse among veterans is alarmingly high and steadily on the rise, up from 27 percent in 2001 to over 40 percent in 2014. Perhaps even more alarming, the same report showed that VA has increased its use of prescription opioids by 259 percent over the same period to treat these invisible wounds.

Magnetic resonance therapy, or MRT, is an emerging technology that has been used to treat over 400 veterans with symptoms of their mental conditions. MRT uses quantitative electroencephalogram, electrocardiogram technology to target the affected areas of the brain and apply repetitive magnetic stimulation to return normal function to those areas.

MRT has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat depression, and a 2015 study found that veterans who underwent 2 weeks of treatment for PTSD reported an average of 47.4 percent reduction in symptom severity. After 4 weeks of treatment, veteran participants saw a 64 percent reduction in symptom severity on average. The same study showed zero reports of worsening symptoms or adverse effects from the treatment.

H.R. 1162 would create a 1-year pilot at two VA facilities during which 50 veterans would be provided MRT treatment for PTSD, traumatic brain injury, military sexual trauma, chronic pain, and opioid addiction.

Ninety days after the end of the pilot, the Secretary of the VA would issue a report to Congress on the efficacy of the pilot.

Mr. Speaker, with such promising results from preliminary tests of MRT technology, I believe that we must act quickly to make this emerging technology available to more veterans suffering from the invisible wounds of war.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from California (Mr. Knight), my good friend and fellow Army veteran, for sponsoring this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 1162, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Knight), the sponsor of this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I, too, encourage all Members to support this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.